Lambing Preparations, and Upcoming Spring Events

This last couple of weeks have been ‘pedal to the metal’ as we get ready for lambing, and despite the snow flurries we had Tuesday morning, spring is definitely in the air. The dawn chorus is growing louder and louder each day, and we’re noticing more bird species about the place which is always exciting. Two male stonechats were spotted at opposite ends of the farm, a woodcock in Gannow Wood, a curlew down by the brook, alongside a kingfisher, and we still have many of our winter migrants taking the final pickings from the hedgerows. Over a hundred fieldfares were spotted earlier this week, an impressive sight - and sound!

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Snow!

On the animal front, we’re doing our best to de-stock the fields so that the grass can get a head start before we turn the cows out in April. We have sold the final group of last year’s lambs, keeping only 12 ewe-lambs for breeding stock and a few lambs (nearly hoggets now) for our own farm shop. The ewes are also now off the fields, and comfortably housed in their “maternity ward”, i.e. the hay barn. There are still a couple of weeks before we can expect the first lambs to appear, but with the sheep in, we can more easily keep an eye on them to ensure they are fit and well. Many of them are now very wide, and waddling across the fields to graze is increasingly difficult for them. Now they can put their feet up (not literally though…) and wait for the lambs to arrive! One of the biggest risks at this stage is a ewe becoming ‘cast’, when they are so wide that they roll over and cannot get up. It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious! This is especially a risk for us as we have quite a few ridge and furrow fields.

Ooof - I think she might have triplets

The cows are also still in the barn. Unless the grass suddenly starts growing much faster than it currently is, the cows will likely all stay in until the end of April. While it’s a little boring for them to stay in, it’s important to give the pastures a chance to be nicely established before they are grazed, and in the meantime we’re feeding lovely hay we cut from our own fields last summer. You can tell that the cows are enjoying it!

Time for supper

Unfortunately, we are still stuck in a frustrating TB situation. Lesions found on an old cow were cultured and came back as negative for TB, but apparently are still suspicious so the samples have been sent off for further testing. This could take 9 weeks. In the meantime we are not allowed to move any animals unless to the abattoir or to a TB accredited market. A tedious situation as we had planned to sell 8 cows and calves to a farm looking to start their own herd of Traditional Herefords. Obviously this cannot go through now, so we have decided to sell 10 younger animals to a TB market next week as the barns are full and more calves are expected over the next month or two. Historically, we haven’t had much luck selling our animals at a market because they are smaller than continental breeds which seem to be more popular these days. Needs must and so on, we will send our young cows off with good wishes.

Daffodils in full bloom - what a relief!

Casting our eyes forward, there are a few exciting events to add to your calendar. This year we are once again working with Wild Food UK, who teach foraging courses at Rush Farm and across the country. It’s a nice way to learn about what the land has to offer us, and also an opportunity to do a bit of exploring! The first foraging course for us this year is on 8th April, we’d love to see you there! We are also collaborating with our lovely landlords Stockwood Community Benefit Society and other tenants on the Stockwood business park to host a spring festival! This will be held on 26th April and will feature tractor rides, seeing the baby lambs and a great mix of stalls. The farm team will be doing a cookery demonstration and a wool spinning demonstration, and there will be other interesting talks and demos as well as catering by Rush Farm with our own produce. We’d love to see you there, and entry is free! Finally, we are running a dawn chorus walk on 3rd May. This will last between 1-2 hours while we walk around the farm and see what there is to see - and more importantly, hear! While many of us on the farm enjoy bird watching, none of us are professionals, so we have an actual ecologist guiding the walk, which means we’ll all learn something. Following what is sure to be a great farm walk, we will all return to The Pantry for a hearty breakfast and hot drink to warm up. Click here to see our events page for more information and to book.

Until next time,

The Rush Farm team

Rush Farm Spring Events